"Well, she lives 'way up there on the hill road--"

"Yes, she does live pretty far out of town," Dr. Lavendar admitted,
"but that's not a reason for not being neighborly after church."

"She's shy," said William King, "that's all. Shyness isn't anything
very wrong. And she's mighty pleasant when she does talk to you. I
tell you Dr. Lavendar, pleasantness goes a good way in this world. I'd
say it was better than goodness--only they are the same thing."

"No, they're not," said Dr. Lavendar.

"I grant she doesn't belong to the sewing society," William said
grinning. "Martha says that some of the ladies say she doesn't show
proper grief for her husband. She actually smiles sometimes! They say
that if the Lord were to remove _their_ beloved husbands, they would
never smile again."

"William," said Dr. Lavendar chuckling, "I begin to like your widow."

"She's not my widow, thank you! But she's a nice woman, and she must
be pretty lonely up there all by herself."

"Wish I had gone in to see her this afternoon," the old man said
thoughtfully. "As you say she may be a suitable person to take this
little boy. I wonder if she's going to stay in Old Chester?"

"Sam Wright says she has spoken to him of buying the house. That looks
as if she meant to settle down. Did you know that Sam's Sam is casting
sheep's eyes at her?"